The present invention relates generally to a wrist rest and more particularly to a dynamic wrist rest for use with existing computer keyboards or incorporation into new keyboards on computers.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that carpel tunnel syndrome can be developed by a worker who performs the same hand movements over and over. For example, this syndrome can be developed from the constant use of a computer keyboard. Without movement of the position of the hands, inflammation of the flexor tendons of the fingers or hand can occur. The tendons swell, which compress on nerves and lead to nerve damage. Ultimately, this nerve damage can result in the loss of the use of the thumb or fingers.
To this end, there have been several attempts to develop wrist rests to combat the problem of carpel tunnel syndrome. One such attempt was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,862 issued to D. Fowler, et al. on Aug. 25, 1987. This patent discloses a statically adjustable wrist rest system with an upward vertical support to offset the downward pressure placed upon the rest by the user's hands and arms. The disclosure of this patent is exemplary of the prior art in that it discloses a static wrist rest.
The problem with the static wrist rest is that it does not provide the range of motion necessary to adequately combat carpel tunnel syndrome. Even if the static wrist rest is adjustable, workers often do not take the time to adjust it. What is needed, then, is a wrist rest wherein the wrist interface is constantly moving to provide different angles for the hands as the typist works. This device is presently lacking in the prior art.